The lights will be turned on late Thursday and for the next two days, and then on the same days in the following weeks, to mark Pink October, an annual breast cancer awareness month, Emaar Properties said.

Visitors to Burj Khalifa, which stands 828 metres (2,700 feet) high, “are invited to wear pink, to show their support to the cause”, it said in a statement.

One Emirati dirham ($0.27/0.25 euro) of all October sales in the shops of the tower, which has become a tourist attraction since opening in 2010, will go towards the Al-Jalila Foundation.

The charity founded by Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum supports an initiative to promote the early detection of breast cancer, facilitate medical treatment and fund local research on the disease.

Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women worldwide. It is also the second deadliest form of the disease in women, after lung cancer.

On Monday, Dubai began construction work on a skyscraper dubbed The Tower that will stand even higher than Burj Khalifa when completed in 2020.